


I've Been Hiding

by Slytherin_Princess_Nysa



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bodyguard, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Ellick, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I Love You, Love Confessions, Nick is her person, Nightmares, Out of Character, Protectiveness, Romance, Safe Haven, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22210642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherin_Princess_Nysa/pseuds/Slytherin_Princess_Nysa
Summary: Someone from Ellie's past comes back with a vengeance. The team does everything they can to protect her, especially Nick. And no matter how much Ellie tells herself that Nick would act as protective and caring with anyone on their team if they were in danger, she can't help but wonder... what if?
Relationships: Ellie Bishop & Abby Sciuto, Ellie Bishop & Jethro Gibbs, Ellie Bishop & Nick Torres, Ellie Bishop & Timothy McGee, Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Comments: 22
Kudos: 86





	I've Been Hiding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hellokaelyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/gifts).



> Hi! Please let me know how you like this fic! It's my first Ellick/NCIS fic and I hope I did a good job!

For the first time in years, Ellie feels a panic attack crawling to the forefront of her head and the rapid beating of her heart gaining speed as it pounded furiously against her chest. She’d dropped her coffee cup on the pavement, her fingers having gone numb and her vision blurry.

Ellie stared down the street, stiff and cold all over. It had only been a moment, a passing glance at a store window and she had seen him. She was positive it was him. No matter how many years had passed, Ellie remembered his face, it was engraved in her brain.

Someone bumped her shoulder, calling out a courtesy apology and Ellie’s head snapped around from side to side. The crowd was moving quickly, the morning street rush at its peak and everyone passing her threw a glare her way for lagging the traffic.

By the time she pushed her way to where she had parked, Ellie was breathless and her hands shook as she fumbled trying to unlock the door. She sat in the front seat, throwing her purse into the passenger seat, locking the doors quickly and gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned a stark white.

Her phone rang and Ellie pressed herself against the door, hand dropping to the cold gun against her hip. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on her breathing.

In and out. In and out.

Her phone stopped and Ellie held a hand to her heart, feeling the beat slow with the deep breaths she forced into her lungs. A minute passed and another call came in. Ellie dove across the arm rest and pulled the phone to her ear.

“Bishop, get down here. Gibbs just got called in to Vance’s office and-” Nick rambled on and Ellie closed her eyes tightly, letting the sound of his voice wash over her and calm her. The deep voice was tinged with humour and Ellie felt the air slide down her throat just a bit easier. “Bishop? Are you there?”

“Yes,” she croaked, talking around her suddenly dry mouth. “Yes, I’m heading to the Navy Yard. I’ll be there soon.”

He was quiet and Ellie could picture the little wrinkle growing inbetween his brows when he was confused. “B, you okay? You sound like you’re just now waking up.”

“Yes, I mean no, I’m fine.” she sounded muted, too quiet, too subdued and she knew it. Ellie also knew Nick. He noticed when she was upset, he always asked, he always _worried_. Because he was her best friend and an idiot who worried too much about her.

“You don’t sound fine. Where are you?” she could hear the jingle of his keys and the ding of the elevator a second later. “I’ll meet you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be at the office in ten.” Ellie hung up before Nick could say anything else. She felt gnawing guilt for a split second before she started the ignition.

It couldn’t have been him. She was seeing things. It was the lack of sleep. The team had just wrapped a complicated case and she had barely gotten a few hours of sleep before a new case was assigned to them this morning. Usually they would get a few days off to recuperate after such a long and taxing case but something serious must have happened.

Any possible excuse that Ellie could think of, she grabbed onto them like lifelines and held on just as tightly.

She drove to the Navy Yard carefully, driving slower than the speed limit, much to the annoyance of the other drivers on the road. The closer she got, the safer she felt. Then again, a building full of armed agents would make anyone feel safe.

After flashing her ID at the gate and security, Ellie rode the elevator quietly. She shouldered her bag before the doors open. Agents were moving faster than usual, or maybe Ellie was slower today. She walked the small distance to the bullpen.

The team was surrounding the tv, McGee was controlling the clicker and Nick and Gibbs were listening to whatever he was saying adamantly. Ellie dropped her bag on her desk and picked up the warm coffee cup on the edge of her desk.

“You’re late.” Gibbs called out and Ellie stared at the stapler next to her keyboard. “Drink up and get over here. We have a new case.”

She took a sip and breathed deeply. Slowly the noise came flooding back in, she could hear McGee going on about a dead body and Nick’s calming voice pointed out something that was undoubtedly on the screen.

“Bishop?” Gibbs tried again and Ellie wondered how long she had been staring off at the little divots in her desk.

She turned slowly towards the board, trying to force away the remaining anxiety and bring a smile to her face. “Sorry, I’m just having a -” Ellie stopped.

Because he was right there. Again. This time it wasn’t on the street where she could convince herself she was just seeing things, it was plain as day in her face. Dead centre on the board was a rendering of him in a rough police sketch. His eyes were slightly too far apart and his chin sported a stubble she couldn’t remember him having before.

Seeing him again was like a punch to the gut. Ellie felt the cup slipping and instinctively clenched her hand around it. The lid popped off and coffee spilled over her fingers. Suddenly a hand gently wrapped around her wrist, Ellie jumped with a start and yanked her hand away, dropping her hold on the cup.

Nick grabbed the cup and slid it onto the desk before turning back towards her. “You alright, B? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“I remember-” she trailed off, staring at her shoes. Nick’s hand carefully dropped on her shoulder, squeezing comfortingly. Ellie leaned into the touch.

“Bishop, you know this guy?”

Distantly, she felt herself nodding and Nick’s hand tightened slightly and Ellie felt it like an anchor to the ground. “His name is Simon Bexton. He’s 35. Born and raised in Oklahoma.”

“You grew up with him?” Nick asked. She could hear the clicks as McGee started typing on his computer.

“He was a few years older than me but we knew each other.” Understatement, but she couldn’t imagine going into any more detail with her hands feeling useless yet again and the only warmth she felt coming from Nick’s hand. “My brothers knew him passingly.”

“McGee I want everything on Bexton. Now.” Gibbs turned to her briefly. “Go get cleaned up. Torrest help her.”

Nick pulled her away and towards the bathroom, Ellie heard McGee’s voice behind them. Nick stopped at the door of the ladies room and Ellie went inside without argument. She spotted herself in the mirror and did a double take. She looked dead.

Skin chillingly white, vividly purple bags under her dark eyes and a split in her lip from where she had been biting it unknowingly. There was a stain on her sleeve and, looking down, a matching one on the cuffs of her jeans. She couldn’t tell which stain came from which coffee. The thought made her laugh, a hollow sound and suddenly her laughter turned to gasps and she wrapped her arms around herself as the tears came.

Ellie’s knees shook and she heard a tentative knock on the door.

“B, you okay in here?” Nick’s head popped into the bathroom and, when he spotted her, he rushed inside. “Ellie!”

She didn’t think about it, all she wanted was her best friend and the comfort he brought over her when he was near. Ellie turned abruptly, burying her face in his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. Nick pulled her closer and held her until she could breathe without a choked sob following closely after each breath.

He stayed quiet, rubbing slow circles over her back and she could feel him rocking them on the balls of his feet. She should feel like he was babying her, but it felt calming. To have Nick’s steady heartbeat under her ear and his hands holding onto her.

“Who is he to you? And don’t say a passing acquaintance because nobody reacts like this to someone they saw in the hallways at school.” he whispered into her hair and Ellie turned her head up, his chin resting against her forehead.

“He used to live down the street with his dad. He played football with my brothers and sometimes mom would invite him to dinner when the games ran late. He was nice to me, which was a pretty rare thing outside of my family. But then he started showing up when I was home alone, offer to drive me to and from school and he would call the house late at night.

“Mom joked that he just had a crush on me. And at first I believed it, even my brothers thought that was it. They didn’t like it but nobody thought it was serious. He went off to college. A few months later, the first Flaxen Killer’s victim was found.”

Nick had frozen, standing stiff as a chill ran up his spine. Ellie felt him shiver and pull her tighter against him. “The Flaxen Killer had half a dozen victims and they’ve never been able to catch him. All they have is a series of vague descriptions of him over the years.”

“You’re wondering how I know he did it?”

“If you think it’s him, I believe you. But a court will need evidence to convict.”

She sniffed loudly and pulled away, trying to compose herself. “I feel weak. I’ve been hiding, Nick. For years and now he’s back and I’m falling apart. I’m supposed to be an agent. A trained professional. Instead I’m-“ Ellie gestured around the bathroom with a quick hand. “Here. And I’m still hiding.”

“I don’t think you’re hiding.” Ellie arched her brow, pointedly staring around the ladies room then back to him. “Alright, so this doesn’t look good for my argument, but I think recognizing a serial killer because you grew up with him is a pretty good reason to need a five minute stakeout of the bathroom.”

“We’re really going to call this a stakeout?”

“Well,” Nick craned his head around the sinks and walked to the stalls, checking them one by one until he was sure no one else was there. He nodded. “No criminals here. I think it’s a successful stakeout.”

“I don’t think you know what a stakeout is and that’s worrying,” she said with the first smile all day turning up the corners of her lips.

“Then it’s a good thing I’ll have you around to correct me and keep me from looking like a fool.” Nick threw his arm around her shoulders and steered her out the bathroom door. Ellie leaned into his side for a moment before moving away and letting his arm drop.

He was her best friend and she loved when he showed his affection but the Navy Yard wasn’t the place for it. What with Gibbs’ rules (not that they were breaking any of Gibbs’ rules) and rumours spreading around the office like a common cold in elementary school.

They passed by Dave and Ellie made an effort to smile back at him, gods knew he dealt with a lot of paperwork daily.

When they reached the rest of the team, McGee had already brought out a full file on Simon on the screen and was rattling off things Ellie already knew about him. On the screen next to him was his newest victim, a pretty blonde with a bright red bandana tied to her wrist - just like the one she wore in high school. Nick bumped their shoulders and Ellie breathed out.

“Tell us what you know, Bishop.” Nick glanced at her then back at Gibbs and stepped forward. Ellie listened while he talked and nodded. “You think this guy is coming after you?”

“He does seem to have an unhealthy connection with her, Boss.” McGee pitched in. “Maybe it would be for the best if we sent her to a safe house until this is all over.”

“No!” she blurted. “I’m fine, I can be here.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone about your connection to him?” he asked in his big boss voice and Ellie stepped closer to Nick.

“I did. At first I wasn’t sure if it was him, I mean who assumes something like that? But then I saw the pictures of the victim, she  _ looked _ like me. Pigtails and all. But it wasn’t until he came home that summer that I started suspecting him. When anyone mentioned the murder, Simon would get this look. Like pride. Then they arrested that frat boy and everyone forgot about it. I thought I had been wrong until I joined the NSA and heard about the FBI case being built against him. I told my superiors and gave a statement but it didn’t pan out because I had no evidence. I can do this, Gibbs.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, you could barely stand on your feet when you saw his face. He’s had an interest in you since you were a kid,” Gibbs looked down at her and Ellie could see that he didn’t believe that was all she knew. “We aren’t putting you in danger.”

“I’m not in danger, he hasn’t contacted me in years.” she tried, Ellie turned to Nick for help but instead found him pointedly looked over her head.

“I want you to write down anything you know about him, everything you remember.” Gibbs pointed to her desk. “Everything.” Ellie opened her mouth again but Gibbs had turned his back. “Torres contact the FBI, I want the full file. McGee, I want current information on her-” he pointed at the victim.

Ellie sat on her desk and pulled the yellow legal pad on her lap, starting with the most basic things she remembered about him. Trying to figure out how she would write out her last encounter with him.

She looked up at her team, the three of them moving in sync. She knew they wouldn’t handle it well. Her eyes landed on Nick, holding the phone to his ear and typing quickly on the computer. Something told Ellie that he would take it the worst.


End file.
